Like many other college football coaches, Stanford's David Shaw is delighted there will be a four-team playoff next season. He just wishes it was here now.

At No. 4 in the BCS standings, Stanford will need help from somebody to earn a spot in the national championship game, even if it runs the table.

The Cardinal are expecting the usual cliff-hanger against USC on Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Stanford then has home games against Cal and Notre Dame and might host the Pac-12 championship game if everything goes well.

But because of the one loss at Utah, the Cardinal might be on the outside looking in when the national title is being decided. They need some of the unbeaten teams - Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and, perhaps, even No. 5 Baylor - to lose.

It's tempting to think about how next year's playoff scenario would have worked this season, and how Stanford might have fit. Instead of the BCS standings the playoff selection committee would periodically issue its own rankings. Stanford almost certainly would be one of the four teams in position for the semifinals.

According to Shaw, the playoff "can't get here fast enough." He said the BCS "has been great for what it was used for, but I can't wait for it to be gone so we can get to a playoff. Everything should be decided on the field."

Ideally, he said, the playoff would embrace eight teams, including the major conference winners and a few at-large teams. He'd also like to see all teams play nine conference games, as is the case in the Pac-12.

It doesn't make sense to him that Pac-12 teams have "a tougher stretch in November than other teams." The SEC, for example, plays just eight conference games, which helps explain why No. 1 Alabama is playing Chattanooga in two weeks.

"I say make everybody travel the same road," Shaw said, although he conceded, "We might be a ways away from that."

Shaw said it's pointless to pay much attention to the BCS standings until the final list is issued. To most fans, that's like saying nobody should pay attention to exit-poll numbers in a presidential election.

With an eye on the BCS standings, Stanford fans might be wondering how high their team would be ranked if it hadn't lost at Utah. The coaches and players aren't playing the what-if game. They're focused on improving.

"I think we've played with a better sense of urgency, especially on defense, every week since then," he said. "We've done better closing games out at the end."

They didn't close out the Oregon game particularly well, but because of the way they played the first three quarters, they were able to weather a rocky finish. The shockingly one-sided game ended with the deceptively close score of 26-20.

Before the game, the Cardinal heard some words of wisdom - issued from Turkey, of all places. Stanford alum Tiger Woods, playing in a tournament there, sent Shaw a message, which he read to the team.

"Everything with Tiger is about mentality, and approaching something that's difficult and going right at it, instead of creeping up to it," Shaw said.

This week's opponent, USC, represents something difficult. The Trojans are 4-1 since Ed Orgeron was promoted to interim head coach following Lane Kiffin's firing Sept. 29. Under Kiffin, the former Raiders and Tennessee coach, USC had gone 3-2 - including having given up 62 points to Arizona State.

But the Trojans rank second in the conference against the run, which represents the bread and butter of Stanford's offense.

"They have some similarities to us - great scheme, great players, very stout and strong up front," Shaw said. Their front four is playing very well, he said. "They get in the backfield, which always disrupts the running game."

Against the Trojans' defense, led by former Cal coordinator Clancy Pendergast, Stanford will have to be much more diverse on offense than it was against Oregon, Shaw said. The Cardinal passed just 13 times and had 66 rushing plays.